Case study: A holistic approach to employee wellness

Learn how one firm supports employees while fostering company culture.

Keiter defines employee wellness as meeting the diverse needs of our team. We believe that promoting initiatives in physical, social, emotional, financial and career health are all essential for our team to be successful. Our wellness and work/life initiatives strive to support each of our team members in reaching their full potential while pursuing their purpose — at home, at work, and in the community.

Keiter recognizes that our team members have unique needs but want to be part of a shared experience. That is why we provide various tools and resources for employees to be their best selves.

Developing Comprehensive Benefits

Wellness encompasses so much, and it can vary from person to person or even year to year. Our HR team members are active listeners in individual and group conversations regarding wellness and benefit concerns. HR also works closely with firm leadership to communicate the new and changing needs of team members.

“Like any accounting firm or business, change can raise concern or resistance for a variety of reasons,” said Lauren Andrews, Keiter human resources manager. “I think what differentiates Keiter is our ability to keep an open line of communication with leadership. It will likely take more than one conversation to get buy-in for a change or new idea. And that’s how it should be. We are thoughtful in making changes that are best for the firm and the team. Our approach is to be innovative while avoiding change for the sake of change.”

These collaborative conversations help to drive innovative and relevant benefit offerings. The result for our firm is a comprehensive benefits package that encourages smart planning for financial and health well-being while considering the time needed to recharge throughout the year.

Keiter had to innovate its benefits package in response to the pandemic. “During the COVID pandemic, many of our team members needed to take time off to care for family and/or themselves beyond what our paid leave and the COVID leave allowance provided. Additionally, many daycares were closed during the pandemic which left parents needing to stay home with their children,” Lauren said.

To address this challenge, HR worked with leadership to gather information on program options, answer questions/concerns, and create a program that fit our team’s needs. Our caregiving leave program provides an additional two weeks of paid leave per year for an FMLA qualifying event, which includes mental health matters. Keiter’s caregiving leave is available to all staff for welcoming new children into the family, caring for a spouse, parents, and family members who may be experiencing a special need due to an illness.

HEALTH AND FINANCIAL WELL-BEING

One of our ongoing challenges is keeping health care costs manageable for the firm and team. To address this issue, we leaned into our approach of open conversations and idea sharing to identify possible solutions. Ultimately, the firm decided to leverage the insights of a benefits and compensation consultant. One of the significant impacts of using this outside resource was moving to a self-funded health care option. We are now able to manage health care costs more efficiently as well as see trends such as commonly used medications. We refer to these trends to make informed decisions on competitive benefits.

Over the past several years, we have added coverage for situations critical to the entire team. Specifically, we offer high-deductible plans in conjunction with contributions to individual Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). The HSA account is set up for eligible team members who are interested in paying for medical, dental, and vision with tax free dollars. These HSA contributions help employees plan for the future.

WORK/LIFE INTEGRATION

Keiter encourages our team to explore flexible scheduling and provides remote work options to create the best fit for their professional and personal needs. Some of our other work/life integration resources include remote work technology, mobile phone reimbursement, “dress for your day” attire, and concierge services. Keiter also offers time off to study for the CPA Exam, time for volunteer involvement, generous leave and holidays, caregiving leave, and sabbatical leave.

Fostering A Fun Firm Culture Throughout The Year

Firm leadership takes a top-down approach to ensure our team feels supported and encouraged to take time off to recharge and spend time with family and friends. For example, Managing Partner Gary Wallace, CPA, launched the #CPAVACAY initiative in 2022. Team members were asked to take a picture of how and where they spent time off while wearing their favorite Keiter swag. The firm incentivized participation with four $500 cash prizes. Each week during the summer, new #CPAVACAY picture submissions were shared on the firm’s Microsoft Teams channel. All team members who submitted photos were entered into the u

Benefits

prize drawing and winners were announced at our fall tailgate party. We shared our team’s summer adventures with friends of the firm and alumni on our blog and Facebook page.

One unexpected result of the initiative was to foster our culture of inclusivity. The pictures sparked ‘around the water cooler’ conversations and identified shared interests and experiences with team members from different departments.

During busy season, Keiter provides perks to alleviate stress for team members. These include food truck visits for lunches, snack stations, on-site chair massages, post-deadline firm celebrations, weekly on-site workouts, yoga instruction, puppy visits from local rescue organizations, a “Zen Zone” meditation room, busy season meal reimbursement, and firm-catered meals for late nights.

Career Path

Traditionally, the expected accounting firm career path is a direct line from associate to partner. Keiter recognizes and embraces individual strengths while also pursuing our mission to help people achieve their full potential. We realize that there is no “one-size-fits-all” career path. Because of this, team members can decide to develop in place or develop for growth.

Defining the future of our firm’s career path is another area where we continually gather information, talk to our team, and receive input from leadership in order to move beyond the straight-lined career progression.

“It’s exciting to work on developing new ways for our team to reach their professional and personal goals while meeting the firm’s needs now and in the future,” Lauren said. “It’s definitely an ongoing conversation. Our goal is to provide our team with career options that fit their needs while leveraging their unique skill sets.”

Ultimately, we want to offer the tools, resources, and benefits for each of our team members to have a fulfilling career and life. n